The Georgia DCH approved Wellstar Health’s $1B plan to build a 675K SF, 230-bed hospital in Acworth. The eight-story facility will expand care capacity for Cobb County and nearby regions, creating 1,500 jobs and relieving strain on Kennestone Regional Medical Center while advancing Wellstar’s statewide growth strategy.
Wellstar Health System has secured Georgia Department of Community Health approval to develop a $1 billion, 230-bed hospital along Cobb Parkway in Acworth, a northwest Atlanta suburb in Cobb County. The 675,000 SF facility is projected to open by 2031, though construction timelines have not been formally disclosed and competing hospitals retain appeal rights under state certificate of need procedures.
The hospital will occupy a site across Cobb Parkway from the existing Wellstar Acworth Health Park, serving residents across Cobb, Paulding, Cherokee, and Bartow counties. Regional population is forecast to increase by 25,000 residents by 2030, driving demand for expanded healthcare infrastructure.
Planned clinical capabilities include 70 emergency department bays and eight operating rooms, with the completed facility expected to generate more than 1,500 healthcare-related jobs across the service area. Wellstar filed its certificate of need application in June, initiating the state-mandated review process that validates community necessity for new hospital construction.
The Acworth development represents one component of Wellstar’s $2.4 billion capital program currently underway. The Marietta-based health system is simultaneously expanding its flagship Wellstar Kennestone hospital with a new tower while executing a $300 million, two-phase expansion at Wellstar Paulding Medical Center in Hiram adding 112 beds total.
Wellstar operates an integrated network of hospitals and healthcare clinics throughout Georgia, with the Acworth project positioned to extend service capacity into rapidly growing north metro Atlanta corridors where existing facilities face increasing utilization pressures from demographic expansion.